I thought this was a really great episode for a lot of reasons. First off, this is getting pretty much all the flashbacks and introspection out of the way, so from here on out it should be pretty much just straight fighting. I mean, Gamabunta is next week; come on!

I was also a huge fan of their presentation. They took a few liberties over the manga, but every single one of them payed off, most notably the scene with the giant burning sun in the desert. They also did a wonderful job of presenting Naruto's introspection, especially the scene where he is reflected in the distorted mirror. I thought the artwork was top-notch, and the storytelling was wonderful. A well-done episode.